Leonberg (; ) is a town in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg about to the west of Stuttgart, the state capital. About 45,000 people live in Leonberg, making it the third-largest borough in the rural district () of Böblingen (after Sindelfingen and Böblingen to the south).
Leonberg is most famous for its picturesque market square, the centuries-old annual horse market, its past role as the seat of one of Württemberg's first parliaments, and the Pomeranzen Garden – Germany's only remaining terraced garden, which dates back to the late Renaissance.
Geography Leonberg lies on the east bank of the Glems River on the lower slopes of a prominent hill known locally as Engelberg (literally: "Angel Hill"). The Glems flows into Leonberg from the southeast before turning northwest until it reaches the district of Eltingen. Here, it turns northeast into the western part of the old town, carving its way along the valley to the district of Höfingen before flowing northeast towards Ditzingen. The northern districts of Höfingen and Gebersheim belong to Strohgäu for administrative purposes.
Neighbouring towns Leonberg is surrounded by these communities (clockwise, starting from the north): Ditzingen and Gerlingen (districts of Ludwigsburg), Stuttgart, and then the Böblingen rural districts of Magstadt, Renningen, and Rutesheim.
Districts Leonberg merged with the neighbouring town of Eltingen in 1938, which now flows seamlessly into the former old town. Administrative reforms in 1975 also resulted in the districts of Gebersheim, Höfingen, and Warmbronn becoming part of Leonberg. Central Leonberg encompasses Silberberg, Ramtel, Gartenstadt, and the residential neighbourhoods of Eichenhof, Glemseck, Hinter Ehrenberg, Mahdental, and Rappenhof. The district of Höfingen also includes the residential neighbourhoods of Tilgshäusleshof and Wannenhof.
Although incorporated into Leonberg in 1975, Gebersheim, Höfingen, and Warmbronn are separate constituencies in local elections.
History
The town of Levinberch was founded by Ulrich I, Count of Württemberg, in 1248, where Leonberg still stands today. The position on the brow of the hill was chosen as a defence from enemies to the west, the towns of Markgröningen, Weil der Stadt, and the counts in Tübingen and Calw. At the time, the town was surrounded by stone fortifications with the count's castle in the southwest. A moat stood to the east, leading to two gates complete with towers and a swing bridge. The gates and almost all of the walls were demolished in and after 1814/1815, leaving only the coat of arms still on display in the Altes Rathaus (old town hall)). The moat was filled in 1786.Leonberg town website
The only surviving building from the old town fortifications was the "Stonehouse" near the uppermost tower, probably because it was the only one used for housing and was not destroyed by the great fire of 1498. Today, it has become the Schwarzer Adler guesthouse and is a defining feature of the old town. According to an analysis in 1999,Official Schwarzer Adler website the wooden-timber gabled roof on top of the Schwarzer Adler was built in the 15th century. Three stories high, it is one of southern Germany's largest and oldest original timber-gable roofs.
A great fire swept through the town in 1498, destroying 46 houses and making around 200 people homeless. Most of the homeless left the town.
During the Holy Roman Empire, Leonberg fell under the jurisdiction of Esslingen before finally becoming part of Württemberg in 1383, when it first gained administrative rights. The population of Leonberg was halved during the Thirty Years' War as a result of the bubonic plague.
On 16 November 1457, the first Württemberg parliament (Württemberg-Urach) convened in Leonberg to administer the custodianship of the underaged Eberhardt V. Although no documentary evidence confirms the fact, many locals claim this parliament met in the "Stonehouse".
During the era of witch hunts, the Leonberg governor Lutherus Einhorn sent 15 women to trial under suspicion of witchcraft. Eight women were condemned to death with the full assent of the Leonberg judiciary and the local community.
One of the most famous Württemberg witch trials in Leonberg took place in 1615 and involved Katharina Kepler, mother of the royal astronomer Johannes Kepler. Kepler's mother was nearly tortured to death in the cellars of the "Stonehouse" before being transferred to Güglingen, where she was subsequently released in October 1620.
In 1846, the Leonberger dog breed was first successfully registered and named after the town.
After the rise of the Nazis in 1933, several bloody street battles were fought between stormtrooper (Sturmabteilung) followers, mostly backed by residents from Leonberg, who attacked supporters of the German communist party, mainly residents in Eltingen. In 1938, Eltingen – a staunchly proletarian community of small landowners - was finally merged with the more bourgeois Leonberg.
Later the same year, the Engelberg Tunnel - Germany's first motorway tunnel - was completed. During the Second World War, the tunnel was used regularly for producing and storing aeroplane parts made by prisoners held in Leonberg concentration camp, an outlying camp belonging to Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Alsace.Bei Alemannia-Judaica.de: Concentration camp cemetery inside the town cemetery and Blosenberg memorial in Seestrasse German website detailing cemetery. The old tunnel was replaced by a new tunnel in the 1990s. Above the tunnel now stands a memorial to the people who died in the Leonberg concentration camp.
By 1961, the population of Leonberg passed 20,000. Boundary reforms in 1973 resulted in the rural districts of Leonberg being merged with the rural districts of Böblingen in the south and Enzkreis/Ludwigsburg in the north. Leonberg has existed in its current form since 1975.
In 2004, Leonberg became one of the first communities in Germany to switch its office systems to Linux and start using freeware.Leonberg geht den Linux-Weg, online news: "Heise Online, 19 February 2004"
Population development The population figures are estimates, census results (¹) or official updates of the respective statistical offices (only primary residences). Year Population figures 1470 900 1630 1,250 1640 630 1703 1,076 1803 1,611 1843 2,195 1861 2,167 1. December 1871 2,061 1. December 1880 ¹ 2,226 1. December 1890 ¹ 2,472 1. December 1900 ¹ 2,524 1. December 1910 ¹ 2,923 16. June 1925 ¹ 3,200 Year Population figures 16. June 1933 ¹ 3,698 17. May 1939 ¹ 8,335 1946 10,329 13. September 1950 ¹ 12,430 6. June 1961 ¹ 20,330 27. May 1970 ¹ 24,995 31. December 1975 35,731 31. December 1980 38,927 27. May 1987 ¹ 40,303 31. December 1990 42,654 31. December 1995 43,748 31. December 2000 44,354 31. December 2005 45,624 ¹ Census results
Main sights
The old town dates back to the Middle Ages and includes a historical market square lined by restored half-timbered houses. Standing among them is the old Town Hall (Rathaus), which, with the water tower on Engelberg Hill, is considered a defining feature of Leonberg. The birth house of Schelling and the huge Zum Schwarzen Adler guesthouse - the first documented seat of parliament of the County of Württemberg - are also key features of the old town. Further attractions include the Evangelical Church (Stadtkirche) with its Roman and Gothic architecture and the former Latin school (which was attended by the astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler). The old Latin school now houses the town museum and Schelling Memorial Chapel. The town park contains a variety of modern sculptures. On the eastern outskirts of Leonberg is the Engelberg Tunnel.
Leonberg's Pomeranzen Garden (Pomeranzengarten) is Germany's only remaining terraced garden. Named after the German word for "bitter orange", the garden originally dates back to the height of the Renaissance. It was planted in 1609 next to the palace (Schloss) as a retreat for widows of the Württemberg duchy. In 1742, it was converted into a fruit and vegetable garden until it was restored in 1980 using Heinrich Schickhardt's original plans.
The Michaelskirche in Eltingen was built in 1487 with a single nave overlooked by rib vaulting and a retracted chancel. The tower is adorned by late Gothic acoustic windows and a polygonal spire.
Other sights include: The Protestant church in Gebersheim was built in 1588. The nave was removed in 1968 and extended. The tower is still decorated with pre-Reformation frescos. The Farmhouse Museum (Bauernhausmuseum) was opened in 1995. The parish church in Höfingen has a Gothic nave. The west tower with its polygonal spire dates back to 18th century. In Warmbronn, a museum is dedicated to the author Christian Wagner. The evangelical church was built in classical style in 1784. The lake house (Seehaus) in Glemseck was built by the royal architect Heinrich Schickhardt in 1609 for Sibylla of Anhalt.
Religion Leonberg once fell into the bishopric of Speyer and was part of an area governed by archdeacon St. Trinitatis. As an early member of Württemberg, in 1535, Duke Ulrich introduced the Reformation. For many centuries, Leonberg was predominantly Protestant. In 1552, the deanery was moved to Leonberg, with the Stadtkirche becoming the Dekanatskirche. After the Second World War, the religious community in Leonberg grew quickly as people moved into the area. The Protestant community in the district of Eltingen also dates back to the Reformation, as it does in Gebersheim, Höfingen, and Warmbronn.
After the reformation, Catholicism first reappeared in Leonberg in the late 19th century with the first parish set up in 1946 shortly followed by St. Johannes Baptista church in 1950. Today, the Catholic community belongs to the deanery of Böblingen within the bishopric of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.
Apart from the two main German religions, "free churches" such as the United Methodist Church (Pauluskirche), the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Immanuel Community of Leonberg also are present, as is a New Apostolic Church.
Politics
Borough council Since the latest round of local elections in June 2004, the district council has had 34 seats distributed as:Town council, official Leonberg data The distribution of the seats among the various parties and groups since the election of June 2009 looks like this,Wahlen 2009 – Gemeinderat, Stadt Leonberg changes over 2004 in brackets: CDU 20,6% (−7,7) – 7 seats (−3) FWV 18,4% (−1,8) – 7 seats (±0) SPD 17,3% (−4,0) – 6 seats (−1) Greens 16,2% (+1,3) – 6 seats (+1) FDP 11,7% (+2,3) – 4 seats (+1) Neue Liste Leonberg 10,5% (+10,5) − 3 seats (+3) SALZ (abbreviation in German for "Town: work, life, future") 5,0% (−0,5) – 1 seats (−1)
Town mayors A head of local administration - an executive official called the Schultheiss - was first appointed in Leonberg in 1304. In 1425, this was replaced by a Vogt, a type of reeve. By 1535, responsibility was shared by a senior and junior governor, both of whom were selected by a local judge. After the 15th century, two burgomasters were replaced by a type of senior district magistrate (Oberamtmann) in 1759. A town council has existed in Leonberg since 1312; in 1523, it had eight members.
In 1930, the interim designation of town mayor was replaced by the now common burgomaster whose status was raised to Oberbürgermeister (senior mayor) in 1963. The mayor is elected for eight years through a direct vote, and chairs the borough council.
Communities now merged into Leonberg Eltingen (1938) Gebersheim, Höfingen, Warmbronn, and Silberberg (formerly part of Renningen, subsequently amalgamated with the Silberberg area of Leonberg; 1975)
Economy
Local companies include GEZE, a regional supplier of door closing and security solutions founded in 1863 and employing 1900 people, has its headquarters in Leonberg.